Writing

David Lan

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Dark City poster
NR

Political thriller inspired by events in the townships of South Africa. At the same time as protesters weave through the shanty town of 'Dark City', the mayor's home is burgled. These two apparently unconnected events lead to the death of a councillor. Seven people are put on trial and only one person can prove their innocence.

Dark City

1990

Streets of Yesterday poster
7.5

This is a story of a relationship between three men: Amin, a Palestinian nationalist; Joseph, an Israeli peacenik; and Colonel Shalit, a right-wing Israeli intelligence officer.

Streets of Yesterday

1989

Exchange and Divide poster
NR

A marital breakdown is brought to life through a mixture of dramatisation, monologue, montage and animation. Through the perspectives of the husband, the lawyer, the couple’s parents and their “home help”, a picture emerges of the transactional nature and economic fall-out of marriage, along with issues of class and gender politics affecting single mothers.

Exchange and Divide

1980

Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere poster
NR

Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere is about different kinds of popular protest. Written and performed by Paul Mason, former economics editor of Channel 4 News and BBC's Newsnight, the play is a personal account of how we got from the optimism of the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement to the election of Donald Trump. Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere is directed by David Lan and performed by Paul Mason, Khalid Abdalla, Sirine Saba and Lara Sawalha. It is directed for TV by Tim van Someren and produced by the Young Vic in partnership with Totally Theatre Productions.

Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere

2017

No artwork available
NR

A South African girl guides anti-apartheid guerrilla fighters across the border from Botswana to South Africa.

The Crossing

1988